The massive Wall Street bailout package that has dominated headlines for the past week was passed by the House and signed into law today.   The record $700 Billion expenditure is probably the largest amount of money ever to be spent on something nobody really wanted.   The Wall Street firms, while obviously happy to get the money, certainly never wanted to get to this point.   Politicians throughout Washington DC spent the week busy trying not to take too much of the credit or absorb too much of the blame over the passage or defeat of the legislation, many even voting under protest or literally holding their noses while saying “Aye” for the measure.   The Presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, handled the issue - albeit sometimes clumsily - with kid gloves, recognizing the importance of the package being passed, while not wanting to be identified too closely with something so unpopular with the voting public.   Eventually both would vote for it though, as would the Senate on the first try and House on the second.

The reason for the passage of such an unpopular bill is simple; politicians from all political persuasions believed it was the right thing to do for the nation’s economy which is facing one of the most daunting periods of the past Century.   Now that the bailout package is passed you can takepart in making sure the funds are spent properly in checking out OMBWatch.org, a watchdog non-profit that looks after the White House Office of Management and Budget.

LINKS:

Salon: Don’t call it a bailout

LA Times: Reversal of fortune: House approves $700 Billion bailout

Time: What the Bailout Bill Crisis Has Wrought